Drunken Irish Stew

NYC was lucky enough to be hit with a mini-blizzard the week before last, and we were lucky enough to get out of work early to "get a jump start on the commute". What that really means is "spend these two extra hours making stew," which, along with some red wine, is the only way to spend a snowy evening.

This recipe comes courtesy of Bake's sister, who lives in Florida, so we can't figure out when it would be cold enough for her to make a dish this hearty. But for those of us in locales where the temperature hits freezing, warm up with all the booze in this Drunken Irish Stew (or save it until St. Patrick's Day).

We just couldn't wait to start eating, which is why this bowl is half full. It's surprising we could pause long enough to take this picture.

Drunken Irish Stew
adapted from Davislife Magazine

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/4 pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
7 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup red wine
1 cup Guinness
6 cups beef stock (or broth)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1-1/2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dried thyme
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound russet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (peeled or unpeeled, gentleman’s choice)
1 pound baby red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (again, gentleman’s choice)
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large yellow or white onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy, large pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef stew meat and sauté until brown on all sides, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic cloves and sauté another minute, until fragrant.

2. Add the beef stock, red wine, Guinness, tomato paste, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaves. Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a boil. When boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for one hour. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.

3. In another large pot, melt the butter over medium heat until slightly foaming. Add the potatoes, celery, onion and carrots, sautéing until golden, about 15 minutes. Set aside until the stew has simmered for one hour.

4. Add vegetables to beef stew and simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes. Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon cold water until combined. Add slowly to the stew, stirring for 1 minute until thickened. Discard the bay leaves and remove any fat that may have accumulated on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 6-8.

*This can be prepared in advance and kept refrigerated for up to three days

CROCKPOT CHALLENGE: Portuguese Chorizo and Peppers

Ingredients:

2 pounds chorizo sausage, casings removed and crumbled

2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped

2 sweet onion, peeled and chopped

1 6 ounce can tomato paste
1 cup red wine
1 cup water
2 tablespoons crushed garlic

In a slow cooker,

combine the sausage, green pepper, onion, tomato paste, wine, water and crushed garlic. Stir so that everything is evenly distributed. Cover and set on low. Cook for 8 hours. Uncover the pot and cook an additional 2 hours to allow some of the liquid to evaporate. Serve over rice or with Portuguese bread. Makes 8 servings.

Notes: Above you will find the classic recipe for Portuguese Chorizo and Peppers as I was able to find it. In my attempt at this dish, I added 1/2 jalepeno, minced, 3 carrots, peeled and sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch long segments, 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme, and one can of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed.

Though the end result was indeed delicious, some observations:

- Make sure to use a red wine that isn't too sweet or of poor quality. If you wouldn't drink it, I wouldn't use it for your cooking, because your stew will be flavored with it and the vegetables will really soak up the flavor - the carrots especially do this and I will not be adding them to my next incarnation of this dish.

- The chorizo is surprising to work with, be prepared. I have used this sausage many times, sliced, but hadn't ever cooked a recipe that required me to crumble it. Chorizo is not formed in the same way as most sausages, where you snip the end off and squeeze out the insides. The chorizo needed to be peeled first and then crumbled. I left a few large chunks, as is my preference so that there could be variation in the texture of the stew. Please see pictures below for a demonstration of the chorizo peeling process. I saved the skins in my freezer to use in making a stock later on. Save everything for this purpose! Garlic and onion skins, vegetable ends, carrot peels, you name it!

Happy National Mulled Wine Day!

Today (ED note: this was actually yesterday, but I screwed up the day) is the most exciting day you've never known!

National Mulled Wine Day!

I have no idea who decides which days are national days and for what, it sounds like a pretty fun job to me. If you know where I can apply for this job, please let me know, like half of the country, I am unemployed.

Share your evening cuddled up next to a loved one (could be a book or a favorite TV show) and make yourself this easy and delicious recipe for mulled wine. I've also come to the conclusion that pretty much any mixture of red wine, brandy (and similar spirits), juice and spices will lead to a fabulous drink. If you have your own stories, share it here!

Wine and Mushroom Risotto with Seared Scallops

Let me start off by saying that I rarely cook. When I do, I stick to the basics-- pasta, burritos, salads, stir fries, and the occasional ethnic dish. Needless to say, I had never made risotto nor have I seared a scallop in my life.

But man, I love scallops and risotto, so I decided it was finally time to stop spending $25 a plate at restaurants on this stuff, and learn to make it myself. The following recipe is partly made up, partly stolen from the internet, and mostly inspired by a risotto brainstorming session I had with an Epicurean lady friend of mine in a locker room. If I can make this, you definitely can too!

I'll call this "fancy shmancy wine and mushroom risotto with pan seared scallops for people that don't make risotto and scallops." Now say that 5 times fast, and enjoy.



For the risotto:

• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup arborio rice
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 8 oz package of mushrooms (I was lazy and used baby bella, but if you're feeling fancy, try porcini), chopped
• 1 14 1/2 oz can of low-sodium chicken or veggie stock
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

For the scallops:

• 1/2 pound jumbo scallops
• a bit of olive oil
• a dash of salt and pepper
• a squirt or two of lemon

Directions:

Start off by melting the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Then add in the garlic and the onions, and saute for a minute. Add the rice and saute for another minute, fully coating each grain with butter. Now add in the wine. Bring it to a boil, and then turn it down to low heat and let it simmer for several minutes until the wine is nearly completely evaporated, stirring frequently.

Brief interlude: --in fact, what I learned is that the key to risotto is to KEEP STIRRING!-- end interlude

Anyway, then add in about half the can of broth and the chopped mushrooms, stirring and stirring and stirring as it simmers. As the liquid evaporates and the mixture begins to thicken, add the rest of the broth and stir some more. (see, I told you!) Continue to simmer until the rice is fully cooked-- about 15-20 minutes altogether.

Meanwhile, coat a frying pan with olive oil and get it nice and hot. Salt and pepper the scallops, and then drop them into the hot pan. Squeeze some lemon on them. Sear scallops on each side until they are opaque-- about 2-3 minutes per side. Don't overcook!

By now, your risotto should be just about done. (Are you still stirring?!) When the risotto is fully cooked and the mixture is creamy, finish it off by stirring in the Parmesan cheese, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and enjoy! Then brag to your friends. Repeat.

kitchen katastrophe: vin chaud and puppy chow

each year, my extended family gets together to celebrate christmas. in a new twist this year, everyone was asked to bring something to eat or drink - a christmas potluck, if you will. my aunt (hosting the event) agreed to take care of the turkey and main dishes with the family (28 of us in total) bringing appetizers, desserts, deliciously drinkable alcoholic drinks, etc. my original goal was to make the ULTIMATE christmas dessert: the buche de noel. this might just be the most complicated thing i have ever heard of. i chickened out at the last minute. instead, i opted to get my family drunk with vin chaud (hot wine, direct french translation) or as we know it in the US, mulled wine, and feed them with puppy chow.

i was at the grocery store when i made my decision and having only ever made vin chaud one other time, did not know a recipe off the top of my head. so, i called my dear friend, JaBootaay, who happily looked up a random vin chaud recipe online and read me the ingredients. this was chosen for a number of reasons: 1) easily found online and 2) not a ton of ingredients. so, here is the very basic mulled wine recipe:

Mulled Wine (Vin Chaud)
Ingredients

• 2 (750 ml) bottles merlot
• 3 cups orange juice, freshly squeezed
• 3 cups pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 cups lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 36 whole cloves
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 3/4 cup water

Directions

1. In a large stainless steel stockpot, combine all ingredients.
2. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
3. Reduce heat to very low and keep warm for about 30 minutes to let the flavours blend.
4. Strain out the cloves and the cinnamon before serving.
5. Ladle in to heatproof cups.

sounds easy, right? in fact, it wasn't too bad. a few things, though: i only had one bottle of merlot on hand, so i combined it with a bottle of cabernet sauvignon. i have always heard that if you have a bottle of red wine you don't like, make mulled wine to mask the taste. i think this is still true. in addition, it's kind of hard to find nice, squeezable oranges at this time of year in north dakota, so i used 100% pure orange juice and lemon juice from a bottle.
JaBootaay suggested i use north dakota snow as water, but it took too long to melt, so i just used tap water (drinkable here, no one uses brita). the only other issue i had with this was the transporting of it. we filled two thermoses (thermi?) and brought the rest in a slow cooker. it went fast, so it almost wasn't worth it. if you're making this for a party of 8+ people, you could easily double the recipe.
apologies, i forgot my camera at home, so i don't have a final picture in a glass. but pretty much it looked like above. but in a glass. mmmmm...

in addition, one of my brothers made puppy chow - this is a great meal that almost everyone likes.

Puppy Chow
Ingredients

• 9 cups Corn Chex® cereal
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2. In a pot, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter until smooth.
3. Stir in vanilla.
4. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.
5. Pour into paper bag.
6. Add powdered sugar. Close bag; shake until well coated.

you may notice that the above recipe is slightly altered from that on the chex website. this is because my mom cut out the chex mix recipe from about 15-20 years ago to put into her recipe box and that is the actual recipe we use - no microwaving here (although i am sure it would work), but i wanted to give the good folks at chex their claim to the recipe.

so you can measure your success, here is our melting on the oven:
then we poured the completely smooth (not burnt - be sure not to melt at too high a temperature, this will entail lots of stirring and monitoring) over the cereal in a turkey roaster, quite appropriate.
this allowed us to shake the mix, rather than stir it. i feel this gives it a better coating.
finally, we pour the chocolatey cereal into a brown paper bag with powdered sugar as below.
then shake it like a polaroid picture. you can put into the fridge or walk-in cooler to harden and then enjoy. again, no final pictures, although you can click on the puppy chow wiki link above to see a nice picture. the powdered sugar is important. i once lugged a huge box of chex all the way to europe to make this for my friends. catch was, they don't have powdered sugar in france (that we could find), so we used regular sugar to coat. no go. it was horrible and everyone thought i was crazy for even liking the idea of this meal. anyway, made properly, this is enjoyed by everyone! AND this, combined with the wine, is a fully-balanced meal: carbs, dairy, fruits, alcohol, and chocolate!

since it's the holidays, i believe the kitchen gods have smiled down on me in making a fabulous few meals for my family: no huge katastrophe here. however, there are still a few things one can learn:

1. bring a camera to all family events.
2. no matter what, you will always underestimate the alcoholic needs of family members when forced to spend 6 hours together.
3. this type of puppy chow is NOT for dogs unless you want to clean up you-know-what...
   

Riesling ice cream and wine coolers

Wine Month – Riesling

We tried out Fritz Windisch Selzer Osterberg 2006 Riesling. It’s a very sweet, florid and fruity Riesling with notes of honey, sweeter than many of the others that we’ve had previously. However, we only learned this after drinking it; the purchase was made solely because the label looks the most German.

German wine doesn't get a whole lot of play, so we feel compelled to give a shout out to Gewürztraminer, another sweet white, mostly because it's fun to say (ge-VURTZ-tra-mee-ner).

We're big fans of the Wine Cellar sorbets (thought not the $8+ per pint price tag), so when we found this recipe for Riesling ice cream it seemed like the perfect desert with which to celebrate wine month. Riesling ice cream sounds like it should be difficult, but in actuality only has a few ingredients and the prep goes pretty quickly. We used this recipe from Epicurious but opted out of the anise cookies, because anise is gross.

• 1 1/2 cups cream
  
• 1/2 cup half and half
  
• 2/3 cup sugar
  
• 4 large egg yolks
  
• 1 cup late harvest Riesling wine

Bring 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup half and half to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk sugar and yolks in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in hot cream mixture. Return mixture to saucepan; stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 4 minutes, do not boil. Strain into bowl. Mix in wine and 1 cup cream. Chill custard until cold.

Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to covered container (ice cream will be soft) and freeze. (Can be prepared 1 week ahead.)

After trying this, we realized that we should just make our own frozen wine treats and save the money. The ice cream is great - sweet and very creamy, much more so than the Wine Cellar sorbet. It tastes strongly of the Riesling (in a good way) and keeps the fruitiness of the wine, with a buttery aftertaste. A little sprinkle of cinnamon is a nice compliment.

In addition to making a wine ice cream, we tried some cocktails too. If this wine seemed easy to sip on its own, in a mixed drink it became downright gulpable.

The first drink we tried was like juice for adults. It’s called the Hot Springs:

• 1 ½ oz wine
  
• 1/2 oz pineapple juice
  
• ¼ oz maraschino liqueur
  
• dash orange bitters

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. We added a maraschino cherry.

This drink was gone in the blink of an eye. The usual cocktail packs a few ounces of high-proof spirits that slows most tipplers down. But the Hot Springs is sweet and simple as a country lass, and just as easy:

The second drink we tried was also easy but not nearly so tasty. We tried making our own White Wine Cooler. Just dissolve ½ tsp of superfine sugar in soda, add wine and ice. This drink could also be called Blasé Blanc. Watered down, sweet, and fizzy, we could bottle this up and sell it to teenagers. Hm, without Zima there is a hole in the market…

election night

So I don't know about the rest of you, but we've got interesting plans this evening, the usual Tuesday routine aside. As JaBootaay's mom said, we've got to drink tonight for all the relatives we have who never got to see this day come, and we've got a lot of relatives.

We're doing that with South African pinotages and jello shots. We've got red ones and blue ones. The rules are simple. The colour of the shot corresponds to whatever way each state voted when the final ballot count in is. So even if a state votes the wrong colour, they'll be something good out of it. Like whatever flavour goes hand in hand with the still mysterious Red 40.

RISOTTO CHALLENGE: Entry One

Strawberries and Cream Risotto, with Sausage Crostini

These are two recipes from Italy’s Joy of Cooking, which as you can guess is way better than dowdy ol’ American Joy. It’s called The Silver Spoon, and you should all buy it, or get a roommate who owns it, as we did.

This risotto is definitely unusual. For one, there is no cheese whatsoever in it. Also, it smells a lot like the strawberry filling we added to a puff pastry dessert a while ago. But it is more of a savory than sweet dish.

The Risotto

ingredients

• 6 ½ cups Vegetable Stock
• 7 tbsp butter
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 cups risotto rice (Arborio in our case)
• 1 ½ cups white wine (pick one you'd like to drink with dinner, naturally)
  
• 2 ½ cups mashed strawberries
• 1 cup light cream
• salt and pepper to taste

(Serves four, though we cut it in half for the two of us.)

In one pot, bring stock to boil. In another pot, melt butter and add onions. Cook for 5 minutes. Add rice and cook until you’re sure it’s all covered in butter. Then add the wine. Once wine evaporates add a ladle of stock and cook till it’s absorbed. Do this over and over until the stock is used up (about 18-20 minutes). Halfway through, add the mashed strawberries. At the end, add the cream and season with salt and pepper.


Sausage Crostini
ingredients

• 3 Italian sausages (skinned)
• 5oz of cheese (they called for straggiano, which we couldn’t find and replaced with parmigiano reggiano. If you do this, it won’t need any extra salt)
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds (strangely, the sausage we bought already had them in it!)
• baguette slices

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix sausage meat, cheese, and fennel in a bowl. Add salt to taste. Spread mix on bread, put in baking dish and bake for 15 minutes. Serve hot.


The crostini was delicious. It's really just cheese and sausage on bread, you can't go wrong there (in fact, we ate it for breakfast the next morning and it was still good).


This risotto met mixed reviews. It didn't turn out gluten-y, which is a plus, but it took on an unexpected brown color from the vegetable stock. The strawberries maintained some of their taste, but were blanched while cooking and got lost visually and texturally in the rice. We were a little wary of the whole thing, but were surprised that the more we ate, the more we liked it. And Shake's Silver Spoon-owning roommate approved, and we trust her, so it must have been good.

Our recommendation is that if you try making this risotto, add the strawberries later while cooking. They won't lose as much of their color or shape that way.